womens health

As if we needed any more proof that politicians are not medically qualified to speak about abortion, now there's this. During a hearing on a proposed abortion restriction in Idaho that would prohibit doctors from prescribing the abortion pill via webcam, Rep. Vito Barbieri (R) asked Dr. Julie Madsen—who was testifying against the bill—whether or not a gynecological exam could be performed remotely if a woman were to swallow a small camera. "Mr. Chairman and Representative, it cannot be done in pregnancy simply because when you swallow a pill, it would not end up in the vagina," Madsen replied. Her comment was immediately followed by bursts of laughter from others in the room, because come on. These men have no business talking about abortion—they don't even know that our stomachs don't lead to our vaginas. "[These] comments demonstrate exactly why politicians should not be in the business of making other people's medical decisions," said Hannah Brass Greer, Idaho Legislative Director at Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest, in a released statement. She continued: "We already knew that these politicians are only interested in restricting access to women's safe and legal medical services, and after today we can confirm they don't even have read more

Between the closing of abortion clinics in Texas (a ruling that was later blocked by the Supreme Court) to the enforcement of state-mandated waiting periods for abortions in states like North Carolina and Missouri, and, of course, the Hobby Lobby decision, 2014 was clearly a tough year for women's reproductive rights. Just how tough? New data released by the Guttmacher Institute shows that in the past four years alone, states have enacted 231 abortion restrictions. It's a statistic that's particularly hard to wrap one's head around, considering that study after study has proved that abortion is a safe medical procedure. There are economic consequences to restricting abortion access as well: According to research out of the University of California at San Francisco, women who seek an abortion but are turned away are three times as likely to fall below the poverty line in the following two years, compared with women who are allowed access. "This report shows that the right to safe and legal abortion exists in name only for far too many women in America today, particularly low-income women who are hurt most by these restrictions that require people to drive hundreds of miles and make multiple trips for read more

Over the weekend, the Senate passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill that includes a provision to provide abortion coverage for Peace Corps volunteers in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment. It's an important win for reproductive rights advocates in a year plagued by restrictions on abortion and other women's health measures. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law, granting Peace Corps volunteers and trainees the same type of abortion coverage offered to federal employees. "We applaud Congress for extending equitable abortion coverage to female Peace Corps volunteers," said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, in a released statement. "These volunteers put their safety on the line through their invaluable service and deserve the same protections we provide to other women throughout the federal government. Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, and their allies have been unwavering in their commitment to ensuring health care equity for women that serve in the Peace Corps, and we are grateful to them for this victory." Currently, just over 60 percent of Peace Corps volunteers are female, and many of them work in areas with little to no access to safe, reliable health care. As Glamour reported last read more

For years, pro-choice advocates have been citing evidence that abortion is a safe, medical procedure—and with plenty of research to back them up, including a 2012 study that found abortion to be safer than giving birth. Now, a new study by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco is adding even more support to that argument, finding that abortion has a lower complication rate than common procedures such as having one's wisdom teeth or tonsils removed. To conduct the study—which was published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology—researchers analyzed abortion data from 54,911 procedures conducted in 2009-10, as well as the women's health care data for the six weeks following the abortion. They looked for any complications following the procedure, which were defined as "receiving an abortion-related diagnosis or treatment at any source of care within six weeks after an abortion." Major complications were categorized as those "requiring hospital admission, surgery, or blood transfusion." Only 2.1 percent of the women included in the study had a complication following an abortion, with just .23 percent experiencing a major complication as it's described above. Meanwhile, complication rates for wisdom tooth extraction and tonsillectomy were significantly higher, with a 7 percent read more

This is really hard. Where do I start? I had a year beyond my wildest dreams. I was so busy, in fact, that this is really the first time I've been able to reflect about the impact of my decision to have a double mastectomy after testing positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation. I was able to reach so many people with my Glamour docu-series "Screw You, Cancer" and actually meet, sit down, and talk to so many women one on one. I am so happy about my decision, but with a year under my belt, I still don't know if it is right for everyone. I had always been haunted by my strong family history of breast cancer, and it definitely affected me psychologically. After the surgery I felt a sense of hope and lightness that I still feel today. I am so glad I chose this path, but becoming a sort of poster child for major health decisions in women's lives has also helped me realize preventative surgery is among the most personal decisions you can ever make for yourself. I shared my story to help give people some perspective, and I hope it has. Let's recap! What read more

There were just 21 clinics left where women could go and safely terminate a pregnancy in Texas, a state with a projected population of over 27 million people, roughly 50 percent of them female, stretching across 261,232 square miles. And now, after a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that they would allow even more restrictions on the legal medical procedure—the same restrictions that Texas State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis fought to prevent in a marathon filibuster last year—only eight clinics will remain to serve state with more than 13 million women, 5.4 million of whom are of reproductive age, according to The New York Times. The law now requires that Texas abortion clinics meet ambulatory surgical requirements, meaning that they must be run more like hospitals and have the facilities to match. It's an expensive upgrade most clinics can't afford and certainly can't make happen overnight—hence the sweeping shut-downs on Thursday. Opponents of the legislation have also called it unnecessary: An abortion in the first trimester is "one of the safest medical procedures," according to the Guttmacher Institute, with less than .05 percent resulting in complications that might require treatment at a hospital. The number of abortion read more

In July 2013, the FDA approved the use of Plan B—emergency contraceptives—for women of "child-bearing age," without prescription. But, according to new research, many pharmacies have been insisting that women pick up the emergency contraception—in some cases, men who want to buy Plan B for their partners have been denied. A "mystery shopper" survey by Columbia University Medical Center sent males—ages 19, 25, and 28—to buy emergency contraception at pharmacies in New York City's East Harlem, Washington Heights, and the Upper East Side. The participants told pharmacists that the reason they needed to buy the contraception was because their condoms broke. Of the 158 pharmacies surveyed, 30 did not allow men to purchase emergency contraception. Of those, 73 percent insisted on having a woman with an ID card present before the sale, while 27 percent reported they had no Plan B in stock. The FDA has supported over-the-counter access to contraceptives for men—with the same age limitations as for women—since 2006. So! That brings this question into play: Why, exactly, must the woman need to be present in these instances? According to David Bell, M.D., M.P.H.: "One possible explanation: the pharmacist may have thought that to comply with the age read more

Visiting the gynecologist isn't our favorite thing to do (oh hai, paper gown!), but if you find a doctor you like and can talk to—and that's really, really important—you can at least get comprehensive care. Even for healthy women, the tests and exams you get at the gynecologist are crucial; they can detect issues early on (when they're often easy to treat) and help you monitor a multitude of health concerns. Dr. Evelyn Minaya, board-certified ob-gyn, expert at Sharecare and cohost of The Juice shares the five tests every woman should be getting (or at least discussing) during her check-up. 1. Pap Smear While there's been a lot of debate over the necessity of a pelvic exam, a Pap test is always necessary. For those who don't know, it's when your doctor painlessly swabs a sample of cells from your cervix or vagina to examine for changes. This provides your best and earliest indication of conditions that may lead to cancer, like HPV. According to Dr. Minaya, "The American College of of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends a Pap smear at least every three years if you're over the age of 30 and you're HPV negative. Under the age of 30 read more

I'm super excited about the news that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced tougher rules protecting women who are pregnant—or might get pregnant—from discrimination, but I'm kind of shocked this is just happening now. Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) in 1978, deeming it unlawful for companies to fire, harass, or eliminate benefits from a female employee because she is pregnant, as well as prevent her from fair pay or equal opportunities for advancement. But according to the Associated Press, there has been confusion about the guidelines, and the EEOC's own data showed a 46 percent increase in complaints from 1997 to 2011. Yikes. The EEOC published a fantastic Q&A about the new guidelines (the first update in 30 years!) on its website. It's an important read, especially if you are planning on getting pregnant one day, have colleagues who might get pregnant, or are a manager. Here are some key points: Now Mandatory: Women Must Be Able to Breast-Feed in Private, on a Flex Schedule Lactation is somehow just now being considered a pregnancy-related medical condition and thus has the protections of the law, including requirements for schedule flexibility and a private place to pump. In read more

Senate Democrats are trying to quash last week's Hobby Lobby decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that closely held corporations can deny you access to health insurance coverage for birth control if it conflicts with the employer's religious beliefs. The court's decision came as a surprise to many, considering that coverage for all FDA-approved contraception was supposed to be guaranteed under the Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare. Senator Patty Murray Today, Democrats unveiled legislation that would require most employers—houses of worship and religious nonprofits would get a pass—to provide coverage for all FDA-approved methods of contraception, no matter what their religious beliefs. "The one thing we're going to do during this work period, sooner rather than later, is to ensure that women's lives are not determined by virtue of five white men," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said during a news conference, as reported by The New York Times. "This Hobby Lobby decision is outrageous, and we're going to do something about it. People are going to have to walk down here and vote, and if they vote with the five men on the Supreme Court, I think it's—they're going to have—be treated unfavorably come read more

Your employer can deny you access to health insurance coverage for birth control for religious reasons, the Supreme Court ruled today. Yes, that's right: In a much-anticipated 5-4 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, the court found that the religious beliefs of the employer trumped a woman's reproductive rights. Supporters of employer-paid birth control rallied in front of the Supreme Court Monday morning. As part of the ruling, the court decided that companies can hold religious beliefs in the same way an individual person can, and, moreover, business owners can opt out of the Affordable Care Act's guarantee of coverage for all FDA-approved methods of birth control if it goes against their personal beliefs. Passed into law in 2009, the ACA, better known as Obamacare, had eliminated copays for all FDA-approved birth control for women with health insurance. "The HHS contraceptive mandate substantially burdens the exercise of religion" Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. "The Government has failed to show that the contraceptive mandate is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest." The ruling will allow Hobby Lobby and another company involved in the case, Conestoga Wood Specialties, to deny female employees access to birth-control coverage read more

In a unanimous decision Thursday morning, the Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts law that had set a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics. The state of Massachusetts argued that the buffer zone kept patients and clinic staff safer, while anti-abortion activists claimed it violated right to free speech. The court sided with the anti-abortion activists. "The buffer zones burden substantially more speech than necessary to achieve the Commonwealth's asserted interests," said the court in its decision, which was authored by Chief Justice John Roberts. According to MSNBC, the court allowed that Massachusetts had "legitimate interests in maintaining public safety on streets and sidewalks and in preserving access to adjacent reproductive health care facilities," but consequently "impose serious burdens on petitioners' speech, depriving them of their two primary methods of communicating with arriving patients: close, personal conversations, and distribution of literature." The buffer zone law was passed in Massachusetts after two people were killed at a clinic in a Boston suburb. The law, which was passed in 2000 and revised in 2007, created a fixed 35-foot zone around the entrances, exits, and parking garages of all reproductive health care facilities. At many clinics, the buffer zone interferes with a public read more

At most awards shows I attend (OK, at every awards show I attend), I'm talking to celebs about their own nominated shows, their co-stars, or even themselves. But last Sunday, I got to say, "Hey, we're nominated, too!'. The 7th Annual Television Academy Honors recognized Glamour and Conde Nast Entertainment for Screw You, Cancer, a video docu-series starring the amazing Caitlin Brodnick and directed by Cathryne Czubek. (from left) Michael Klein (Executive Vice President - Programming and Content Strategy at CNE), Screw You, Cancer's Caitlin Brodnick, director Cathryne Czubek, and Grant Jones, (Supervising Producer, Creative at CNE). In Michael's speech, he also thanked Glamour Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive and Conde Nast Entertainment President, Dawn Ostroff. Screw You, Cancer is the first digital series to ever be honored by the Television Academy (those same prestigious folks that are responsible for the Primetime Emmys), and it joined other deserving honorees like Showtime's The Big C, CBS' Mom, ABC Family's The Fosters, and more. The purpose of the evening is to celebrate programs that have used the power of television (and now of course, the internet) to generate awareness and create positive change regarding today's important social issues. It was an inspiring evening, and read more

By now, you might have heard Christine Carcano's story. Carcano, who was a health volunteer with the Peace Corps, has bravely detailed the story of what happened to her while she was serving in Peru. "I was assaulted about four months into my service" she told me. "I was walking with the man who was to become my attacker, and we were on our way to his sister's home around 9 P.M. It was outside of his sister's home that he pinned me down and proceeded to rape me. I was eventually able to fight him off, but not soon enough." Carcano didn't immediately report the assault due to what she described as "stigma, fear, self-blame, and denial." Then she became ill and was diagnosed with pelvic inflammatory disease. As doctors treated her, she learned she was pregnant, carrying her rapist's baby. Shocking enough, right? But things got worse. When doctors told her the news, Carcano says, "I was presented with two options: continue with the pregnancy and have all related expenses paid, or terminate." Any costs from the abortion, she would have to cover. (Keep in mind that volunteers earn a meager monthly stipend of roughly $300 to $500; read more